Here
we go again – partisan bickering. This appears to be a perpetual situation;
either we have the Democrats criticizing the Republicans or visa versa.
In 2002 Trent Lott, the incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader,
made the following unfortunate comment at the retiring Strom Thurmond’s
100th birthday party:

"I
want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president,
we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country
had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over
all these years, either."

Unfortunately,
Lott’s statement was broadcast live on C-SPAN. Just what the faux
opposition needed! The rest of the media jumped onboard and the battle
raged. Playing one party against the other gives meaning and purpose
to the anchors and the right wing pundits. And it provides more money
to their big business conglomerate owners.

In
the 1948 Presidential race South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond
ran on a third party ticket – the Dixiecrat Party. He carried the
states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina against
Democrat Harry Truman and Republican Thomas Dewey.

During
his pre civil rights campaign Thurmond said: "All the laws of Washington
and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes,
our schools, our churches." The Dixiecrat platform embraced segregation.
Okay – that was in 1948. There was a different mentality in the south
– a very unfortunate mentality. Hopefully, that is an attitude of
the past. Thereafter, Thurmond became a Republican, left his segregationist
position and went on to serve longer than anyone else in the senate.

Lott
issued a written statement indicating that he was not endorsing Thurmond’s
questionable, unconscionable early politics but was merely recognizing
the many contributions of the long-term Senator.

No
matter, the Democrats decided to make an issue of it and display anger.
The media thrived on it. And Jesse Jackson, never missing any opportunity
to accuse someone of being a racist, made the most of the situation
by demanding that Lott resign as Senate Majority Leader. One has to
wonder how Jackson could point a finger at anyone, given his own dirty
laundry. And Al Gore, the former VP, in an interview with CNN, said
that it was definitely racist and that he should be censured by the
Senate. Who would prefer being a former “anything” when he could take
a position that placed him before a microphone?

Enter
Democrat Richard Durbin, another politician who opened his proverbial
big mouth before he engaged his brain. Richard Durbin made the following
statement with reference to the prisoners at Guantanomo Bay on 14
June 2005 after reading an email from an FBI agent:

“If
I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing
what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most
certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their
gulags, or some mad regime – Pol Pot or others – that had no concern
for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This is the action
of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.”

It
is a fact, according to a report by the International Red Cross that
“the prisoners at Guantanomo Bay are well fed. They have access to
shower and toilet facilities. Muslims have the opportunity to pray
five times a day and are ministered to by two Muslim Chaplains. They
may freely converse with one another and each has access to a copy
of the Koran. They sleep on 4-to-5 inch-thick mattresses with sheets
and blankets. The mattresses are on the floor, as is Afghan custom.

If
we wish to make real comparisons to what the Nazis and other tyrants
did – why don’t we evaluate what the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act
has done and will do to the citizens of this country? Now, that is
significant and worthy of real media attention but we hear nothing
about it. While thousands of illegal aliens cross the southern borders
daily little old ladies are unduly detained at airports. With Real
ID there will come the time when we will have to respond to the command
“Your papers, please!”

If
the politicians would stop craving the microphone and making ridiculous
public statements, they would not have to make all of these obligatory
apologies. Durbin’s incendiary comments were far worse than Lott’s.
Yet, it cost Lott his position as Senate Majority Leader. What will
it cost Durbin? When will that ax fall? Or will future campaign promises
give voters amnesia?

The
greatest mass media objection to Durbin’s comments is that they might
prompt retaliation against our military. Apparently his insensitive
remarks may put some of our troops in unnecessary jeopardy which would
be tragic – therefore, they reason, Durbin should be censured. If
putting our military in unwarranted danger is justification for censure
then the first two individuals who qualify for censure are George
Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney.

Thousands
of members of our military have gone to Iraq to fight an undeclared
war in a country that just might have had weapons of mass destruction.
None were found. The altruistic spreading of democracy was a convenient
and acceptable alternative afterthought for the war. How opportune
to find Saddam Hussein in a hole in the ground in mid December of
2003, just months after the invasion. No doubt about it, Hussein is
a tyrant. Thousands were killed under his reign of terror. Enter the
media! Just play up his tyranny with live coverage - the uncovering
of graves, repetitive views of torture and rape rooms and voila! -
The sympathetic Americans would support the war effort. I wonder –
what if the media covered a live abortion and allowed the viewers
to witness the grisly, bloody dismemberment of a tiny defenseless
baby. Think of the mass support for the repeal of abortion that those
images would garner.

Approximately
1900 individuals have returned from the Iraqi war in caskets after
giving their lives for the noble cause of “democracy”, the worst form
of government. Remember, we are a Republic, a government of law. We
rarely see media coverage of the caskets and the sorrowful family
who receive them. These patriotic individuals will be missed by their
wives, husbands, children, parents and grandparents. They gave their
all! Hundreds of others have lost arms, legs, eyesight, or other permanent
reminders of their service. Their lives have changed forever because
of their sacrifice. We don’t see a lot of media coverage of that.

With
regards to the bickering, sniveling politicians - if publicity is
the objective, then I suppose all of this squabbling does keep them
in the news. It appears that Durbin’s apology accompanied by a quivering
voice and tear filled eyes may make the whole problem disappear. But
maybe it won’t. Does it matter in the long run? Was he sincere or
was he just acting like a typical, passionate politician? Of course,
we will have to endure the endless interpretations of the neoconservatives
and their radio talk show pundits. While the constant barrage of verbiage
is scattered across the radio and television waves the voters are
less likely to concentrate on really significant things like voting
records.

Every
individual, public figure or otherwise, politician or a news anchormen,
should be accountable for their actions and their words. However,
the citizens are so barraged with what the elected elite say that
it is difficult to determine what they actually do. The old cliché
“Actions speak louder than words” is not always accurate in our orchestrated
media. The media volume is sufficiently strident to conceal the combined
crafty Republican and Democratic political activity.

In
this ongoing soap-opera like partisan prattling, the voter must ask
himself/herself – what are the Democrats and the Republicans really
doing? Forget what they are saying – what political positions do their
actions imply? Actions talk – words deceive. Shouldn’t our elected
officials just get on with the business of representing us and upholding
the Constitution?

Alabama
Governor George C. Wallace, when running in the 1968 Presidential
election said 'there's not a dime's worth of difference' between the
two main parties on race." Although he used this statement to depict
a particular position it should hold true in another more significant
situation. They should both be upholding the Constitution. There should
not be a dimes worth of difference in this very important objective.
Both political parties should be protecting the rights of all American
citizens. Yet, neither party favors the American citizen.

The
liberals consistently embrace a “left-wing” ideology and the conservatives
consistently consent to the implementation of the “left-wing” agenda
while purporting to favor conservative values. The only difference
between the two parties is their charade choice. The democrats pretend
to favor the poor. They also favor women’s rights to murder their
unborn. They sensitively support homosexual rights, a lifestyle beset
with a short lifespan. The republicans pretend to support family values
but do nothing to repeal abortion. Again, we have to have some media
coverage on this – who do we call, give me a name? Which media magnate,
conservative or liberal, really supports abortion repeal – anyone?
Remember, it’s all about actions – forget the rhetoric!

Both
parties should be reigning in the socialistic Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court does not have the power to enforce their decisions. Yet they
consistently create law by their misinterpretations and corruptions
of the Constitution. They often refer to foreign law policy rather
than the Constitution for their decisions. Where are the checks and
balances created by our founding fathers? Where are the Administration
and the Congress who should be barricading these freedom stealing
decisions? The latest constitutional desecration, while this Durbin
fiasco occupied our attention, was the decision against seven small
property owners in New London, Connecticut. This opinion, on 23 June
2005, was written by John Paul Stevens who was joined by David H.
Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (CFR) Stephen G. Breyer (CFR) and Anthony
Kennedy, appointed by Reagan.

Three
of the five are republican, the party of family values. The other
two are democrat – the party of the poor or common man. This judicial
decision favored City Hall and some very well connected land scavengers
who could generate more money by building a hotel and convention center.
The scavengers were favored over the small property owners. This is
an affront to the most basic personal liberty. This is nothing but
confiscation of private property by the government.

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With
all of the really important, newsworthy items that should be reported
we get insignificant distracting fluff. The parties spend a lot of
valuable time battling each other - fodder for the media – what a
huge public distraction! That is the objective! The selective media
covers whatever supports the socialist, one world republican/democratic
agenda. While they play war with each other, the battle rages against
our diminishing civil liberties. And ultimately the voters lose.

Deanna Spingola
has been a quilt designer and is the author of two books. She has traveled
extensively teaching and lecturing on her unique methods. She has always
been an avid reader of non-fiction works designed to educate rather than
entertain. She is active in family history research and lectures on that
topic. Currently she is the director of the local Family History Center.
She has a great interest in politics and the direction of current government
policies, particularly as they relate to the Constitution.

Both
parties should be reigning in the socialistic Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court does not have the power to enforce their decisions. Yet they consistently
create law by their misinterpretations and corruptions of the Constitution.